The charity trips that give participants the chance to see exactly where their money goes
FOR A while I’m confused. In a country where the people seem to unfailingly produce an easy smile for a stranger, the middle-aged looking woman in front of us at the health centre in Dita, southern Ethiopia, looks utterly miserable.
Finally, the penny drops. I’ve travelled into the mountains with a group of Orbis Ireland fundraisers in order to witness, among other things, the sort of eye surgery that is the organisation’s stock in trade.
Now, sitting before us on a bench outside the room where the operation will take place is local woman Odolche Oao, who looks about as happy as I imagine I would be if a bunch of Ethiopians turned up to see me have my wisdom teeth removed.
The facilities in the health centre are basic and the “theatre” is little more than a room with a tray full of equipment and a steriliser the size of a pressure cooker.
The procedure, aimed at treating more advanced cases of trachoma (an infection associated with poverty and poor sanitation that can, when untreated, result in blindness), is pretty straightforward, according to our hosts.
When carried out by specially trained health workers such as Seifu Wanake, the nurse who operates on Oao, the initial success rate is about 90 per cent, with many of the problems in the remaining 10 per cent easy enough to address soon afterwards.
Personally, I feel awkward during the 20 minutes of the operation, especially early on when Oao is distressed and requires quite a lot of reassurance from Wanake, who works alone.
But then I am the only person in the room who has not raised a substantial amount of money from friends, family and work colleagues in order to be here in Ethiopia.
Those around me, silently watching and taking pictures, have had to come up with a minimum of €3,000 in order to travel with Orbis for the Great Ethiopian Run, a 10km race in Addis Ababa, and each has paid an additional €500 in order to come south, first to Arba Minch, then out into “the field” in order to see exactly how it is that their money is spent.
Afterwards, the impact the experience has had on them is clear. “I think you had to come down to do this part of it to understand it really,” says Beryl Dunne, one of a group from Airbus’s IFSC-based financial division who has travelled.
“Any of those photographs, for the people who sponsored me; they’re the ones that I’m going to show them so they can see that the money they gave me, that’s what it’s going to.”
Anne Marie Reid, who is part of a group from Vodafone on the trip, agrees: “I think it’s been amazing to see what they can do out in the field with so little. I think you have to see it to understand what is going on.
“You see how different it is to what you’re used to and I definitely think you come away with a far greater sense of empathy; you leave intent on coming back or doing more.”
That, as it happens, is very much the plan as Diane Weatherup, Orbis’s country manager in Ireland, readily admits. The organisation brings about 70 people to Addis each year, all of whom get to see some of its work in the capital, and roughly 20 go down south where they get to see a good deal more out at the coalface, as it were.
This year’s trip will raise about €120,000, roughly a quarter of the Irish operation’s annual budget and much the same as its other big annual fundraiser, the Aviation Ball, which is easier to organise.
The difference, she says, is that “with this we have 70 people going out there, seeing what we do and then coming back as ambassadors for the organisation. You find that people who travel become regular donors, get involved and volunteer for other events. On the most basic level, you get to make a connection.”
The aim of creating “ambassadors” is shared by the other aid agencies that bring people to Addis Ababa for the Great Run each year or to other events, destinations or “challenges”, where their work can be showcased and a “connection” made.
“The work we do speaks for itself,” says Ronan Scully of Self Help Africa, which brought 15 people running and then on out to Sodo to see the network of agricultural co-operatives it has helped establish, as well as the many businesses started with the support of the credit unions it has backed.
The precise nature of the trips varies, with organisers constantly having to strike a balance between comfort levels for participants and the percentage of funds raised that goes on the work rather than the witnessing of it. Self Help Africa and Vita (formerly Refugee Trust International) also tend to bring people out of the capital for longer.
Vita’s “village to village” walks in the Chencha region, where it promotes more fuel-efficient stoves and higher-yield potato crops, probably involve the most interaction with locals.
Deirdre Ruane, who organises the trips, points to the low costs involved but, she admits, the old missionary buildings often used for accommodation can prove a little challenging for some supporters.
“The facilities can be basic,” she says, “but we are bringing people right into the heart of these villages and that is a big thing for everyone involved.”
Participants in Concern’s Great Ethiopian Run visit projects in or near Addis Ababa and stay for less time than some of those who go with other agencies. The numbers involved are not quite so key to an organisation that turns over perhaps 200 times what Orbis Ireland does in a year.
Facilitating some interaction between the organisation’s supporters and its workers on the ground, though, is absolutely central to the purpose of the trip, says Zoe Holyoak, Concern’s challenge co-ordinator.
“If we can’t bring people to see where we work and how the money they raise is spent then a member of staff will come to see them. It’s an important part of what we are doing.”
In Addis Ababa, they seem to have succeeded in this, with everyone I spoke to in the party impressed by what they had seen during their trip. That said, some recognised they are part of a long-term game being played by organisations which now, more than ever perhaps, need to open minds as well as wallets.
“We’ve been impressed by what we’ve seen and the way they involve local organisations but, of course, you can be cynical about the idea of raising €3,000 and ask how much of it actually goes to Concern and its work here,” says Paddy Lord, a consultant engineer from Navan who, along with his wife Judy, travelled with Concern.
“Ultimately, I suppose it can’t be that big an earner for them but it helps them to build longer term relationships. I suppose from that point of view, we’re part of an investment they’re making in the future.”
Wanted: Donors with a sense of adventure
Adventure, challenge or event-centred trips such as the one to the Great Ethiopian Run have become far more important to charities here over the past few years. Despite the economic downturn, competition to attract donors who might emerge from the experience as devotees remains fierce.
Orbis, Concern, Vita and Self Help Africa will all be going to Addis Ababa again in November, but Orbis and Concern (along with a few other organisations) will also bring groups
to climb Kilimanjaro in the autumn, while Vita intends to stage another “village to village” walking tour of Ethiopia.
Having staged a successful “tri-adventure” trip to India last year, Concern will also be heading to Uganda in 2012, where participants will, over 10 days, climb a 4,000m mountain, cycle across the country and kayak on the Nile.
Oxfam, meanwhile, runs an international trekking operation with trips to, among others, Peru and the Arctic lined up for the coming 12 months. Croí, the Galway-based organisation that focuses on heart disease and stroke prevention, has firmly established itself in recent years as a significant player, along with the likes of Crumlin Children’s Hospital and the Irish Cancer Society, in the more mainstream marathon market and will have people again this year in London, Berlin and New York.
If that’s not your cup of tea, you can opt for a trip to Colorado in September and play at being a cowboy – 6am starts, long days in the saddle “moving cattle around the farm, finding lost steers or fixing fences”, followed by hearty meals and massages.
The list of events seems almost endless while the amounts that have to be raised vary from trip to trip, with most starting at about €2,500 or €3,000 and some reaching twice that or more. The percentage that goes to the charity varies too, but between 50 and 75 per cent seems to be typical, with the more complicated trips, which often involve third-party agents, coming in at the lower end of the scale.
Any organisation you raise funds for would like to make “a connection” to keep you on board, but those that get to provide you with first-hand experience of their work feel they have the best chance of harvesting that most sought-after sustainable resource for Irish charities – the dedicated long-term supporter.
Emmet Malone’s trip to the Great Ethiopian Run was supported by the Simon Cumbers Media Fund.
